The Little Christmas Tree
by Jo Z. Pierce
Summary: Lenny shows up late to the Christmas Party at the Pizza Bowl... and Shirley is MAD!


_I don't own Laverne and Shirley. And I don't own Lenny, although I wouldn't mind borrowing him for a few days._

_This was written as a stocking stuffer for Vivien in the 2007 Yuletide Obscure Fandom Fanfiction Exchange._

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**The Little Christmas Tree**

**by Jo Z. Pierce**

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The little tree was tilted slightly to the left. It had a few ornaments, a few colored lights, and a little angel perched on the top. Behind it, against the wall was a small doll perched on a broomstick.

"Aw! Come on Pop! It's not Italy... it's not even Brooklyn! Who's gonna know what that is?"

"Whadya talkin about? That's La Befana! 'Member where y'come from, Laverne! Eh?" Frank DeFazio shouted across the crowded Pizza Bowl restaurant. One free game of bowling with every slice. He figured it would bring in a few customers on Christmas Eve, but even he was shocked and a little unprepared for the turn out.

Laverne looked at the tree again, and tried to straighten it, but it was no use. She did the best she could to decorate her father's pizza parlor for Christmas, to give it a festive feeling for the Christmas Eve party.

"Laverne! Bisogn'di aiuto!"

"English, Pop! English!" She shook her head. She must be kidding; even his Italian was terrible. She pried herself away from the countertop tree and followed him back into the kitchen.

In a bit of a panic and a very big rush, the lanky man pushed through the doors. The floor was slippery under his feet, covered in slush that had been dragged in from the Milwaukee streets all night long. Slipping and sliding, Lenny grabbed for the walls as he propelled himself into the dining room.

"Shirl! Shirl!" he cried out, looking around the room. "Is she here?" Shirley Feeney and her date for the evening turned as she heard her name.

"Lenny! What are you doing?" Shirley left her date for the moment and moved towards Lenny, to catch him before he slipped and hurt himself. "What's wrong? Where were you?!"

"Is she here? Laverne?"

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen, helping Mr. DeFazio..."

Lenny caught his breath, as he tried to steady himself.

"Oh. Good. I thought I might have missed her. I wanted to surprise her, before she went home."

"No, Lenny, she was here, putting up all the decorations," Shirley said, angrily. "Remember? The ones you and Squiggy were supposed to do?"

Lenny's lips formed a small frown, as he acknowledged his guilt. "I know. I know. But me and Squiq were out..."

"That's Terrible, Lenny!" Shirley scolded him, and gave him a hard, but still dainty, smack on his shoulder.

"While the two of you were having a grand old time, running all over town, you left her on her own like that! To do all the work! Shame on you! _Especially tonight_! You knew her date cancelled last minute!"

Lenny felt his heart sink a little. He wasn't sure if it was because her date cancelled, or because she had made the date to begin with.

"Then you two stand her up, too...!" Shirley squealed in a high pitched voice.

"Nah, Shirl. It's not like that..."

"Well, that's what it looked like! You should go and apologize! Now!"

"Well, it wasn't like that. I was out looking for something..."

Shirley shook her head at the man in disapproval, not wanting to hear another word. She turned and walked away in disgust.

"It wasn't like that," Lenny said, in a low voice, as she walked away. He looked around the room at the couples dancing, eating, and enjoying the holiday party.

"Poor Laverne," he thought. "She was supposed to have a date, too. Instead she winds up working."

"Hey, Lenny!" the high pitched voiced called out. "Why'dya jump out of the truck like that? I would have stopped for you!" A short man with greasy black hair walked into the room.

"Sorry Squig. I didn't want to miss her."

"Well, she ain't here. Thanks a whoooooole lot! You had me speeding in that truck, and she ain't even here no more."

"Nah," Lenny said, ask he walked away and headed for the little tree. "Nah, she's here."

Lenny reached into the jacket of his pocket and pulled out a little box, with a tiny red bow on it.  
He grabbed a pencil and a blank pad from behind the counter. He quickly scribbled a short note.

_"To L, From L. Merry Christmas."_

He smiled, then tucked it into the box's fold, and carefully placed it under the tiny tree.

"Merry Christmas, Laverne," he whispered, then turned and slowly walked out of the restaurant alone.


End file.
